40+ Best Kropotkin Quotes From The Russian Philosopher And Economist

Rajnandini Roychoudhury
Dec 12, 2023 By Rajnandini Roychoudhury
Originally Published on Feb 04, 2021
Edited by Luca Demetriou
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Statue of philosopher Kropotkin

Pyotr Kropotkin, also known as Peter Kropotkin, was an exemplary Russian who excelled in countless fields.

Born on the 9 December, 1842, he was popular for being a revolutionary philosopher, anarchist, sociologist, and economist. His philosophical quotes on politics have impacted millions influencing them greatly in their lives.

Here is a list of some of the most impactful Peter Kropotkin quotes from Pyotr Kropotkin's life, lectures, and works which are considered rare gems in the field of philosophy. These Peter Kropotkin quotes will really move you.

Peter Kropotkin wrote book 'The Conquest Of Bread' and 'Mutual Aid' as well. If you like these Peter Kropotkin quotes, you may also like Peter Kropotkin books too and come to eventually admire the man, Peter Kropotkin, as well. If you wondering, Pyotr Kropotkin is another way to spell his name.

If you like Peter Kropotkin quotes, you can check out other amazing articles like Kant quotes and Ludwig Wittgenstein quotes.

Revolutionary Peter Kropotkin Quotes

Large bookcase with the leather bound books

Here is a list of some of the best Peter Kropotkin quotes including quotes related to political power and authority, the evolution of education, and many more. These Peter Kropotkin quotes will surely help you get a new kind of perspective on the order in which a government works and about life.

After all, Peter Kropotkin was a revolutionary figure and the Peter Kropotkin quotes shows it.

1. "Prisons are universities of crime, maintained by the state."

-Peter Kropotkin, 'Russian And French Prison'.

2. "My brother could not write about trifles. Even in society he became animated only when some serious discussion was engaged in, and he complained of feeling ‘a dull pain in the brain’–a physical pain, as he used to say– when he was with people who cared only for small talk."

-Peter Kropotkin.

3. "Anarchism...strives to maintain and enlarge the precious kernel of social customs without which no human or animal society can exist."

-Peter Kropotkin, 'Anarchism'.

4. "Every day brings with it a fresh batch of work, and a man throws himself into his bed late at night without having completed what he had expected to do; then in the morning he hurries to the unfinished task of the previous day."

-Peter Kropotkin, 'Memoirs Of A Revolutionist'.

5. "And there are those like ourselves who see the State, both in its present form, in its very essence, and in whatever guise it might appear, an obstacle to the social revolution, the greatest hindrance to the birth of a society based on equality and liberty, as well as the historic means designed to prevent this blossoming."

-Peter Kropotkin, 'The State'.

6. "It is often said that Anarchists live in a world of dreams to come, and do not see the things which happen today. We do see them only too well, and in their true colors, and that is what makes us carry the hatchet into the forest of prejudice that besets us."

-Peter Kropotkin, 'Anarchism'.

7. "In the practice of mutual aid, which we can retrace to the earliest beginnings of evolution, we thus find the positive and undoubted origin of our ethical conceptions."

-Peter Kropotkin, 'Mutual Aid: A Factor Of Evolution'.

8. "Have not prisons - which kill all will and force of character in man, which enclose within their walls more vices than are met with on any other spot of the globe - always been universities of crime?"

-Peter Kropotkin.

9. "Do this if it so pleases you, but know that humanity will regard you as petty, contemptible, and feeble, and treat you as such. Having no evidence of your strength, it will act towards you as one worthy of pity - and pity only."

-Peter Kropotkin, 'Anarchism Morality'.

10. "We may open any book of sociology, history, law, or ethics: everywhere we find government, its organization, its deeds, playing so prominent a part that we grow accustomed to suppose that the State and the political men are everything; that there is nothing behind the big statesmen."

-Peter Kropotkin, 'Anarchism'.

11. "The present wage-system has grown up from the appropriation of the necessaries for production by the few; it was a necessary condition for the growth of the present capitalist production; and it cannot outlive it, even if an attempt be made to pay to the worker the full value of his produce and hours-of-labor-checks be substituted for money."

-Peter Kropotkin, 'Anarchism'.

12. "Struggle so that all may live this rich, overflowing life. And be sure that in this struggle you will find a joy greater than anything else can give."

-Peter Kropotkin, 'Anarchism Morality'.

13. "Struggle! To struggle is to live, and the fiercer the struggle the intenser the life. Then you will have lived, and a few hours of such life are worth years spent vegetating."

-Peter Kropotkin, 'Anarchism'.

14. "In the long run, the practice of solidarity proves much more advantageous to the species than the development of individuals endowed with predatory inclinations."

-Pyotr Kropotkin, 'Mutual Aid'.

15. "Every machine has had the same history – a long record of sleepless nights and of poverty, of disillusions and of joys, of partial improvements discovered by several generations of nameless workers, who have added to the original invention these little nothings, without which the most fertile idea would remain fruitless."

-Pyotr Kropotkin, 'The Conquest Of Bread'.

Famous Peter Kropotkin Quotes

Pyotr Kropotkin was best known for his philosophical quotes on many aspects like communism, economy, anarchy, and the like. Here is a list of some of the greatest Peter Kropotkin quotes from his life.

16. "We recognize the full and complete liberty of the individual; we desire for him plentitude of existence, the free development of all his faculties."

-Peter Kropotkin, 'Anarchism Morality'.

18. "When ignorance reigns in society and disorder in the minds of men, laws are multiplied, legislation is expected to do everything, and each fresh law being a fresh miscalculation, men are continually led to demand from it what can proceed only from themselves, from their own education and their own morality."

-Peter Kropotkin, 'Law And Authority'.

19. "Everyone knows that absence of education, dislike of regular work, physical incapability of sustained effort, misdirected love of adventure, gambling propensities, absence of energy, an untrained will, and carelessness about the happiness of others are the causes which bring this class of people before the courts."

-Peter Kropotkin, 'Memoirs Of A Revolutionist'.

20. "The simple habit of keeping one's word, the desire of not losing confidence, are quite sufficient in an overwhelming majority of cases to enforce the keeping of agreements."

-Peter Kropotkin, 'Anarchism'.

21.

"Common possession of the necessaries of the production implies the common enjoyment of fruits of the common production; and we consider that an equitable organization of society can only arise when every wage system is abandoned and when everybody, contributing to the common well being to the full extent of his capacities, shall enjoy from the common stock of society to the fullest possible extent of his needs."

-Peter Kropotkin.

22. "The worker perceives that he has been disinherited, and that disinherited he will remain unless he has recourse to strikes or revolts to tear from his masters."

-Peter Kropotkin, 'Anarchism'.

23. "Peasants and workers, crushed by misery and finding no support in the well-to-do classes, have let things go."

-Peter Kropotkin, 'Law And Authority'.

24. "Competition is the law of the jungle, but cooperation is the law of civilization."

-Peter Kropotkin.

25. "There are those, on the one hand, who hope to achieve the social revolution through the State by preserving and even extending most of its powers to be used for the revolution."

-Peter Kropotkin.

26. "Each individual is a cosmos of organs, each organ is a cosmos of cells, each cell is a cosmos of infinitely small ones."

-Peter Kropotkin.

27. "Everywhere you will find that the wealth of the wealthy springs from the poverty of the poor."

-Peter Kropotkin.

28. "You reason like the king, who, being sent across the frontier, called out, 'What will become of my poor subjects without me?'"

-Peter Kropotkin.

29. "I understand regicide as a means of obtaining vengeance for the ruin of our lives."

-Peter Kropotkin.

30. "The masses have never believed in sophisms taught by economists."

-Peter Kropotkin, 'Law And Authority'.

Peter Kropotkin Philosophical Quotes

Pyotr Kropotkin was famous for his revolutionary views on communism as well as his anarchist philosophies. Here is a list of some Pyotr Kropotkin quotes on communism anarchism as well as various other philosophies. These Peter Kropotkin quotes really show his education and diverse point of views:

31. "Are you so blinded, so much a prisoner of your own authoritarian ideas..."

-Peter Kropotkin.

32. "Where there is authority, there is no freedom."

-Peter Kropotkin.

34. "We renounce the idea  of mutilating the individual in the name of any ideal whatsoever."

-Peter Kropotkin, 'Anarchism'.

35. "We cry out against the feudal barons who did not permit anyone to settle on the land otherwise than on payment of one-quarter of the crops to the lord of the manor."

-Peter Kropotkin, 'Anarchism'.

36. "Equality in mutual relations with the solidarity arising from it, this is the most powerful weapon of the animal world in the struggle for existence."

-Peter Kropotkin.

37. "What future lies in store for Communism when one of its most important defenders tramples in this way every honest feeling?"

-Peter Kropotkin.

38. "Variety is life; uniformity is death."

-Peter Kropotkin.

39. "Well-being for all is not a dream."

-Pyotr Kropotkin, 'The Conquest of Bread'.

40.  "When one has talent, everything contributes to its development."

-Peter Kropotkin, 'Memoirs of a Revolutionist'.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly quotesfor everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for Peter Kropotkin quotes then why not take a look at Will Durant quotes, or [Ancient quotes].

Article image credit: Radiokafka / Shutterstock.com

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Written by Rajnandini Roychoudhury

Bachelor of Arts specializing in English, Master of Arts specializing in English

Rajnandini Roychoudhury picture

Rajnandini RoychoudhuryBachelor of Arts specializing in English, Master of Arts specializing in English

With a Master of Arts in English, Rajnandini has pursued her passion for the arts and has become an experienced content writer. She has worked with companies such as Writer's Zone and has had her writing skills recognized by publications such as The Telegraph. Rajnandini is also trilingual and enjoys various hobbies such as music, movies, travel, philanthropy, writing her blog, and reading classic British literature. 

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